West Orange High green-lights girls wrestling program

WINTER GARDEN Don’t let anyone tell you persistence doesn’t pay off at West Orange High School.

In large part because of the persistence of students such as Sarah Zimmerman, Natalia Dunbar and Claire Barton, the West Orange Warriors will be fielding a girls wrestling program for the first time next fall.

The new sport got the approval it needed from Athletic Director Adam Miller and Principal Doug Szcinski earlier this month, and Charles “Chip” Harbin will be the program’s first head coach.

“They’ve been asking … over and over again: ‘What does it take to get a girls team started?’” Harbin said of the trio of girls. “That’s really how it happened — because of their persistence.”

Harbin wrestled at the high-school level in Alabama and has been eager to get involved with the sport again. Upon arriving at West Orange as a teacher three years ago, there were no openings for assistants with Coach Kristen Iannuzzi’s successful boys program, so starting the girls program provided a chance to be a head coach.

“They’ve been asking … over and over again: ‘What does it take to get a girls team started?' That’s really how it happened — because of their persistence.”

— Charles "Chip" Harbin, coach

For the students such as Zimmerman, girls wrestling is attractive for many reasons.

“It’s a good sport to do because it’s a contact sport, and it teaches you about (self) defense,” Zimmerman said. “It’s a good strength-and-conditioning sport.”

About 20 girls already have signed up to receive information and Harbin hopes to field a team large enough to have two girls in all 16 weight classes. In spite of that quest to field a large team for the program’s inaugural season next school year, the team will not be admitting just anyone who wants to say they are on the wrestling team.

“I’m looking for girls who are fit, or who want to get fit, and who aren’t going to shy down from hard work,” Harbin said. “Wrestling matches last six minutes — but it’s a grueling, grueling six minutes.”

The first team for West Orange will begin training in the fall when school begins and girls wrestling runs roughly parallel to boys wrestling as a winter sport, though it is not yet overseen by the FHSAA.

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].